HELBACH, Wendelin von
NO COPIES IN THE US
Hortulus Corporis.
Frankfurt-am-Main, N. Bassaeus, 1596£2,950.00
FIRST EDITION. 8vo. pp. [16], 578, [12]. Gothic letter, little Roman. Title in red and black, printer’s device to last verso, decorated initials and ornaments. Very light age browning, single small worm hole through much of text, occasionally touching letter. A good copy in C19 paper boards, paper label to spine, illegible ms autograph (?) to title.
First edition of this scarce compendium of medical remedies, in German, for conditions head to foot, with sections on plague and treatments based on the work of famous physician. Little is known of Wendelin Helbach (1518-88), from Mühlberg. Beside writing theological and
Neo-Latin poetic works, he edited the present work, attributed in the title to an identified ‘probably princely author’. It begins with an examination of remedies against conditions of the head, gradually proceeding towards the feet, with each section providing a list of
ingredients and instructions for preparation: e.g., ailments of the eye and neck, dizziness, skull fractures, mental illnesses, nose-bleeding, lethal bleeding, stomach ulcers, fever, kidney stones, and sleeping disorders. For most conditions, several alternative remedies are provided, in the form of pills, powders, etc., but especially therapeutic waters. For the plague ‘lutum armenum’ is advised, ultimately coming from Avicenna and known for its healing qualities against putrefaction. One of the plague remedies, advertised in the title, was written
by the famous physician Lonicer. Interestingly, Latin is almost never used, thus making ‘Hortulus’ a fine compendium of early German medical vocabulary, providing the names of hundreds of conditions as well as technical and botanical pharmaceutical terms. A scarce work.
